1016: Hilt, Colbert, and Adol

「UUUURAAAAAAAAAAAH!」

『He’s still super fast!』

「But I can already keep up with his movements!」

「Woof!」

Fran and the others had gotten accustomed to the giant antidemon’s speed. Even if his strikes were still too fast for comfort, we managed to evade everything for the time being.

「Raah!」

「Black Lightning Princess! This way!」

Fran and Seliadot continued avoiding the goliath with a combination of evasive maneuvers and wards. That said, our attacks barely scratched him.

That’s a pretty common occurrence when challenging huge magical beasts, but this guy was on an entirely different level. My multicast Kanna Kamui shattered half of his fist, then he simply regenerated the damage in a few seconds.

In addition, his mana levels just kept rising indefinitely. Even if supplied infinite mana, most creatures are only able to store up to a certain limit.

Exceeding that limit generally causes the bearer’s power to go wild, exhausting their life force and eating away at their body. The same logic applies Fran, who had a few near-death experiences from overusing her enhancement skills.

However, the giant antidemon seemed to be an exception. He fully absorbed all the mana he could get, as if his capacity was bottomless.

He’s probably way stronger now than when he first appeared.

But neither Fran nor Seliadot were at all discouraged. Your average person might be, but these two kept fighting with the same determination.

Maybe it was because they knew our reinforcements were drawing closer.

No, close might be a bit of an understatement. Considering the powerhouses present, they were already in range to fire.

From the first division came a single magical blast. Though it wasn’t big…

Boom!

The giant antidemon’s left arm shattered before it could cleave us down. That single blast was as strong as my multicast Kanna Kamui.

『Tch… As expected from a divine sword!』

（Nn.）

I’ve seen this divine mana before, coming from the Blade of Origin, Alpha. Divine Sword Knight Adol must have been the one launching that projectile.

Even if he just saved us, I don’t feel much gratitude. Fran seemed rather frustrated too. The Holy Nation was full of pricks, after all.

From the opposite side came countless black lasers, high-ranking black magic. They pierced right through the goliath’s barriers and caused him to flinch.

The demonkin sorcerers were probably the only ones capable of such spells. Either way, the efforts of Adol and the sorcerers slowed the goliath down a lot.

That allowed us to gain a little distance from the giant antidemon and prepare for our own big move.

Moreover, we sensed a familiar presence charging toward the goliath’s back.

「Master, Urushi! Let’s match the timing!」

『Roger!』

「Woof!」

「Max Output Force Ward!」

I unleashed my telekinesis in sync with their spells. Seliadot must have thought the same thing, since she activated a ward to blast the goliath from behind too.

At the same time, a shadow darted across the sky.

「Terryaaaaaah!」

A beautiful, lightly clad woman with her dark green side ponytail fluttering in the air. She delivered a spectacular flying kick to the back of the giant antidemon.

The woman released a burst of mana right as she slammed into the goliath, generating a huge shockwave. The tough carapace covering the goliath’s back caved in with deep cracks.

Our efforts gave him a further push, causing the giant antidemon to fall face first. The crash as he hit the ground had the same force and sound as a massive explosion, lifting a cloud of dust and smoke that suddenly reduced our visibility.

Even in such a situation, we did not lose sight of the woman cloaked in shining mana. She glided down through the air using the recoil from her kick, before calling out to us cheerfully.

「Sorry to keep you waiting, Fran.」

「Hilt!」

Hiltoria, the current head of the Dimitris school, had knocked down the goliath.

She must have rushed to our rescue ahead of her division.

After floating through the air with the recoil of her mana infused kicks, she landed gracefully at Fran’s side.

「This antidemon seems to be immensely powerful.」

Despite her wariness, Hilt radiated plenty of power herself. Considering the divine attribute circulating throughout her entire body, she must have activated the Dimitris Style Secret Art, “Dragon”.

During the martial arts tournament, she only managed to launch a single divine attribute attack in that state. However, she was now capable of maintaining Dragon over an extended period.

I guess Fran wasn’t the only one getting stronger in Gordicia.

「And he’s healing the wound I put on his back so easily.」

「We think he’s getting mana from the Abyss Eater.」

「That’s ridiculous… Also, weren’t you supposed to be with Izario-dono? I don’t see Trismegistus either…」

「…Dunno where they are.」

「I see.」

After noticing Fran’s worried face, Hiltoria seemed to realize the gist of the situation. She then turned to the crumbling castle, but only for a moment.

「UUUUOOOOORHH!」

「We’ll have to do something about this guy before we can look for them.」

「Nn!」

Hiltoria glared at the giant antidemon trying to get up, then quietly readied herself.

She thrust her left palm forward, with her right fist held at her side. Her lower body twisted left, and her right foot was ready to kick the ground for her dash.

The stance for delivering a powerful punch.

「Pheeeew… I’ll give him another while the dragon ki is still flowing.」

We watched as the dragon ki circulating throughout Hilt’s whole body concentrated on her right fist. As expected, she dished out a punch.

However, her fist didn’t need to reach the goliath. The spiraling mass of dragon ki she launched struck him with the force of a cannonball.

「AAAAAAARH――!」

「Wow!」

「Woof!」

Hilt’s divine energy blast exploded the giant antidemon’s head, piercing through his thick barrier and skull as if it was nothing. Indeed a worthy display of the Dimitris Style Secret Arts.

But even this was far from a fatal wound. The goliath immediately began regenerating.

「Tch. Just like before, even hits with dragon ki are being healed so easily.」

This must be Hilt’s first time dealing with an antidemon resistant to the divine attribute. All the high-level antidemons she experienced were apparently unable to recover from such a hit.

Though we could see fatigue on her face, the surprise was stronger.

Ever since Nadia’s rescue mission, we’ve seen a few antidemons shrugging off divine attribute attacks. However, it seems that doesn’t apply to all of the high-level ones.

Or rather, the ones able to resist are probably the exceptions.

「Hilt, are you okay?」

「I’m fine, I can keep going.」

She seems to have lost a lot of mana, but she could still move. I don’t think she could use any of her bigger moves anymore though.

Though we didn’t manage to defeat the giant antidemon, we were able to buy a lot of time. He got a lot slower when regenerating, and the force of the blow knocked his gigantic body off balance again.

Meanwhile, the others had arrived.

「Fran, are you all right?」

「Colbert!」

Colbert, who had been at the front of his division, came running up to us. He too was obviously stronger than the last time we saw him. His level and techniques must have been refined in the constant battles with the antidemons. The aura he radiated indicated his new strength.

「Miss, please stop running ahead by yourself!」

「But then we wouldn’t be able to save Fran!」

「Well, that’s true… But you dying means the end of our style for good, you know?」

「I won’t die that easily. You worry too much.」

「Whose fault do you think that is?」

「Hmph.」

The same damn lovey-dovey atmosphere as usual! Hilt still gave snide replies to Colbert’s complaints, but this was clearly two lovers playing around.

And Colbert seemed a bit more interested than before, huh? Could it be that their relationship has developed a bit?

I-Is this the power of the Suspension Bridge Effect? Damn it! Stop fooling around in a warzone!

（Master?）

『Don’t worry about it! More importantly, Adol’s about to arrive too. That means those assholes from the Holy Nation will be here soon. You still have the bracelet of concealment on, right?』

（Nn. But it didn’t work on Trismegistus.）

『That Dragon Eye thing seems especially powerful, and it’s apparently enhanced further inside the castle… Besides, I don’t think he managed to see everything.』

He certainly had a vague understanding of my internal components and systems. However, I got the feeling that he missed the relationship between Fenrir-san and my growth ability.

Maybe the bracelet of concealment helped us out there. Well, it seemed to work just fine for the Holy Nation’s appraisers, so we shouldn’t have much issue.

「Ado――」

「Out of my way!」

I thought Adol was coming to us, but then he darted right past us.

「?」

『He charged in without any exchange of info? Seems he’s in a big rush for some reason.』

（Nn.）

No, wait a second. Could it be he wanted to defeat the giant antidemon as quickly as possible so he can cancel his Divine Sword Release state? Maybe that’s a sign of how far Adol has been pushed into a corner.

He’s definitely moving slightly slower than when we saw him last time. His level seems to have dropped considerably.

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